Editing Hercules (section)

=== Worship from women ===

In ancient Roman society women were usually limited to two types of cults: those that addressed feminine matters such as childbirth, and cults that required virginal chastity.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Schultz|first=Cecelia|date=February 22, 2020|title=Modern Prejudice and Ancient Praxis: Female Worship of Hercules at Rome|journal=Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik|volume=133|pages=291–97}}</ref> However, there is evidence suggesting there were female worshippers of Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Hercules.<ref name=":1" /> Some scholars believe that women were completely prohibited from any of Hercules's cults. Others believe it was only the "Ara Maxima" at which they were not allowed to worship.<ref name=":1" /> [[Macrobius]] in his first book of ''Saturnalia'' paraphrases from Varro: "For when Hercules was bringing the cattle of Geryon through Italy, a woman replied to the thirsty hero that she could not give him water because it was the day of the Goddess Women and it was unlawful for a man to taste what had been prepared for her. Hercules, therefore, when he was about to offer a sacrifice forbid the presence of women and ordered Potitius and Pinarius who were in charge of his rites, not to allow any women from taking part".<ref name=":1" /> Macrobius states that women were restricted in their participation in Hercules cults, but to what extent remains ambiguous. He mentions that women were not allowed to participate in Sacrum which is general term used to describe anything that was believed to have belonged to the gods. This could include anything from a precious item to a temple. Due to the general nature of a Sacrum, we can not judge the extent of the prohibition from Macrobius alone.<ref name=":1" /> There are also ancient writings on this topic from Aulus Gellius when speaking on how Romans swore oaths. He mentioned that Roman women do not swear on Hercules, nor do Roman men swear on Castor.<ref name=":1" /> He went on to say that women refrain from sacrificing to Hercules.<ref name=":1" /> Propertius in his poem 4.9 also mentions similar information as Macrobius. This is evidence that he was also using Varro as a source.<ref name=":1" />